Abuser of daughter gets 5-year term Man says incidents were accidental BALTIMORE COUNTY

August 20, 1993|By Sheridan Lyons | Sheridan Lyons,Staff Writer

A Baltimore County judge yesterday sentenced a 30-year-old plumber to a five-year prison term for repeatedly raping and sexually abusing his daughter, now 7.

Assistant State's Attorney Robin S. Coffin noted with disgust the defendant's claim that he awoke one morning to find his then 4-year-old daughter performing a sex act upon him and his attempts "to portray her as the initiator."

When questioned by investigators, the father admitted other incidents of intercourse and sodomy but said they were accidental, she said.

The father pleaded guilty in June to a second-degree sexual offense. Under the terms of a plea bargain, Circuit Court Judge John Grason Turnbull II ordered the man to serve five years of a 10-year sentence. The maximum penalty is 20 years.

The man moved here from Massachusetts to find work, but lost his job after an accident a year ago, said his attorney, John Henderson. He has been jailed since February.

His daughter, now back in Massachusetts, will need extensive therapy, Ms. Coffin said.

"She loves her father," she said. "What he has done to her is really irreparable."

The prosecutor told the judge the man's family called her "a damned liar" after the man, whose name is not being divulged by The Sun to protect the victim, pleaded guilty.

Mr. Henderson said all members of the family had accepted his guilt by then, with the possible exception of his wife of 10 years.

Before being sentenced, the man -- holding a Bible -- "I would have turned myself in if I had known how."

Judge Turnbull limited the man's contact with his daughter to letters, to be screened by her therapist.

The judge called the case outrageous and singled out a statement in which the father said he "couldn't wait" until his daughter reached puberty.